Question 1

What exactly is tallow?

Accepted Answer

Tallow is the rendered form of beef suet (fat) that is incredibly rich in nutrients and can work wonders for your skin!  Beef tallow is made up of 50% saturated fat, 42% monounsaturated fat,  and 4% polyunsaturated fat. It also has vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E,  and K for skin health.   Some of the benefits from these vitamins include:

Vitamins A, B12, D, E, and K are extremely  nourishing for skin. This particular combination of beneficial vitamins  is only found together in animal products. 
Alpha linoleic and linoleic acids in almost a  perfect ratio of 1:1. These are also known as omega 3 and omega 6 fatty  acids, and they maintain the structure and barrier function of skin.  They are also helpful for anti inflammatory and immune responses in  skin, including eczema and rosacea. 
Stearic acid and oleic acid are fatty acids that  are found in the outer layer of our skin, and in our sebum. They are  softening, moisturizer, regenerative, and anti inflammatory. Stearic  acid helps to repair skin,  improve the flexibility of skin, improves  skin’s barrier function. Oleic acid helps the various beneficial  nutrients penetrate deeply into skin. 
Conjugated linoleic acid or CLA has powerful anti inflammatory properties, and is also antimicrobial. 
Palmitoleic acid is a very active antimicrobial in  our skin. It is also one of the basic building blocks of our skin, but  it decreases as we age. 
Palmitic acid helps improve the smoothness of skin, and helps with skin’s barrier function, and decreases as we age.

Question 2

What skin conditions has tallow been known to help with?

Accepted Answer

Tallow has long been known to ease many skin ailments. It has anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and skin repairing properties which can soothe dry, cracked skin, calm eczema and help clear up acne.

Tallow infused with healing botanicals such as calendula, lemon balm, plantain, comfrey and chickweed provide even more comfort for wounds, burns or sore muscles.

Since tallow can increase blood flow to your face while providing essential vitamins and minerals, it naturally boosts collagen production smoothing fine lines and wrinkles.

Question 3

Does grass-fed really matter?

Accepted Answer

Just like they say you are what you eat, the benefits of tallow is only as good as the diet of the cows that it came from.  Cows are meant to eat grass...not grains...

Grass-fed tallow has a more balanced concentration of fatty acids compared to grain-fed. When it comes to omega-3s and omega-6s, what matters most is the ratio  between the two, not how much of each individual nutrient you get.

There are higher concentrations of vitamins and minerals in grass-fed tallow balm, too. Studies show that these essential nutrients are four times more prevalent in grass-fed tallow.

So when you see cheaper tallow balm, there may be a reason why...Grass-fed tallow balm contains up to four times the concentration of nutrients and those benefits will show on your skin.

Question 4

What is Blue Tansy and what are it's benefits??

Accepted Answer

What Are The Benefits of Blue Tansy?
As is often the case with many naturally-occurring ingredients, there is not a whole lot of systematic clinical studies that have been conducted  on the benefits of blue tansy. However, there has been some research into its anti-inflammatory, calming, and healing benefits. 
Calming
While  the research is somewhat limited on whether blue tansy is beneficial  for calming irritated skin there are some small studies that have looked  into specific benefits. For example, one such study reviewed the use of blue tansy diluted in water to support the healing  of burns caused by radiation therapy in cancer patients. 
Anti-inflammatory
The  majority of the research that has been conducted into the benefits of  blue tansy focus on the anti-inflammatory benefits of the ingredient. As  is the case with many naturally-occurring ingredients such as blue  tansy they are not just one ingredient they are a combination of a  number of different compounds. This is why naturally-occurring  ingredients are often more complex to study. This is the case with blue tansy. 
The potential anti-inflammatory benefits of blue tansy are believed to be associated with two compounds that are found in blue tansy. The first is sabinene  which is a primary component of blue tansy oil.  Sabinene has been  studied for its potential anti-inflammatory effects. Interestingly it is  also being studied as adjuvant therapy for multi-drug resistant  infections such as Salmonella typhimurium.
The  other component of blue tansy that may be responsible for its  anti-inflammatory benefits is camphor. Camphor is probably an ingredient  you remember from your childhood, with antibacterial, antifungal, and  anti-inflammatory properties, camphor was often slathered on just about  any wound or injury and was often used to help with a chesty cough.  Camphor has been studied for its use in allergic skin inflammatory responses, helping to soothe and calm the skin. 
Interestingly, the compound responsible for the blue color of blue tansy, chamazulene, may also be a mild anti-inflammatory agent. 
Skin-healing
Camphor,  in the concentration found in blue tansy, has been found to be helpful  in supporting skin healing and repairing damaged skin. This is  potentially beneficial for those who have healing blemishes, or barrier  irritation. Given camphor’s natural antibacterial and antifungal  benefits it is no surprise that it may help to reduce infection as  well. 
In one study, conducted with mice,  camphor improved UV-damaged skin. It is important to remember here that  one study, particularly on mice does not indicate a new use it only  provides us with a new avenue of investigation that may or may not prove  to be beneficial. 
Antihistamine
In traditional Chinese medicine,  blue tansy is used as an antihistamine reducing allergic nasal  congestion. This use has been supported by some research that looked at  the antihistamine effects of the ingredient, a promising area of study.